February 15, 2012

In February my fancy turns to sprouts. The seed catalogs are busy teasing us with their endless varieties of tomatoes and basil and I'm itching to grow something---anything! So I sprout, usually mung beans and alfalfa though I keep meaning to branch out with radish or broccoli seeds. I do not recommend the mixed bag of sprout seeds, they always turn out yucky. Last year I made a lot of egg foo young omelets with my mung bean sprouts but yesterday Penny's stomach was bothering her and so I decided to make a small pot of soup instead.

This is my Dark Days meal for the week and includes home grown mung bean sprouts, 9 Bean Rows pac choi and onion, garlic from The Saturday Farmers Market at the Village and beef bone broth made from Gallagher's Centennial Farm. The process was nothing fancy: melt frozen broth, add sliced onion and garlic along with salt to taste and ginger, bring to a simmer, add chopped pac choi and return to a simmer, remove from heat, pour into bowls and top with mung bean sprouts and if desired a squeeze of lime, a splash of fish sauce and maybe some chili oil.

February 14, 2012

My foray into non-Whole 30 foods didn't go quite as well as I previously reported. A few days after my "cheating" I had a few break outs and gained back a little weight. I felt even worse after tasting frosting (very little) I made for potluck cupcakes, obviously a dumb idea. Feeling fuzzy-headed and sluggish were my main complaints. I detoxed by eating tons of raw vegetables for a few days and that has made me feel much better. I just need to figure out what starchy/sweet foods agree with me and which ones don't. It's all a big crazy experiment anyway since I really don't have any confidence that anyone knows what we should eat. Sometimes I think about all the people that seem to be thriving on fast food and vending machine fodder and wonder what in the world is the difference between me and them. Is body chemistry, self control, portion sizes, nurture, nature...?

Anyway, it's Valentine's Day and I knew I would never get through the whole day without something chocolate. I let Alex stay up late last night because he was thoroughly engrossed in a book, Mousenet, and Penny had fallen asleep super early so I was wasting time reading blogs. I came across a recipe for Pots de Creme on Pioneer Woman. I usually read her blog only for the photography and homeschooling ideas because the delicious-looking real butter and cheese in her food torture me; but something made me check out this recipe. I was thrilled to find out that it was already dairy free and so simple!

The amount of sugar in the original recipe is relatively low, coming only from the semi-sweet chocolate, but I wanted to try and make these a little more nutritionally dense. I took inspiration from the white chocolate both my children love from Organic Nectars. They use cashews in place of milk powder so I used some cashews to lighten my unsweetened chocolate. I added my favorite natural sweetener, dates, and changed the flavorings to suit my mood. Probably these should now have a different name but I have had the real thing and these are better than quite a few that bore that name honestly with real cream. Be sure to take your time and fully blend the mixture so you get the creamiest texture possible with your blender. And don't be surprised if you want to eat them all at room temperature once you take a taste.

-Add the chocolate, cashews, dates, eggs, salt and vanilla to a blender and blend until everything is combined and the cashews and dates are mostly smooth. You may need to stop and scrape down the sides a few times to get everything together.
-With the blender running, slowly add the hot water through the hole in the lid. After all the water is added, stop the blender and scrape down the sides. Blend again until very smooth, scraping more as needed.
-Spoon into cups or jars. Serve either right away because it is pudding-like warm from the blender or chill and eat cold, chilled it is very rich and almost like frosting.

Variations:
You could replace the hot water with hot coffee and/or replace the vanilla extract with Grand Marnier, Chambord or other liquor

After nearly 10 years of product loyalty, I gave up using Paint Shop Pro last fall and have been slowly learning my way around Adobe Photo Shop. I figured I was finally ready to try using some actions. Here is Penny with PW's Old West action. You can download her action sets here.

February 7, 2012

For this week's Dark Days of Winter Challenge I give you a cell phone photo of a potluck dish-- not my best entry but at least it's something. To the potluck today, I brought a frittata made with 9 Bean Rows turnip greens and red onions, eggs from The Saturday Farmers Market at the Village and my home-smoked ham I made with the half hog from Bare Knuckle Farm. I can't vouch for the salad and apple I had with it but given the company it was quite possible they were local and/or organic.

February 5, 2012

I completed my Whole 30!! It was a very positive experience and I have been feeling pretty great. I lost 9 pounds which broke through my weight plateau, I feel more energetic overall and I've had better sleep. Take that last one in context, I do have a co-sleeping toddler. I found that eating full paleo really seems to have much more of an impact compared to when I gave up wheat last year, where I saw little to no changes. I notice a difference with no honey or maple syrup and limiting the amount of fruit I eat, especially dried. Even with those restrictions I don't think I'm eating anywhere near low-carb but I wonder how sustainable it will be in the long run. Sweet things tend to be a slippery slope for me even when I avoid all refined sugar. I also think there is a significant benefit to making sure I get raw, dark green leafy vegetables every day. I only had one or two days without a big salad, usually with at least some raw kale. The salads gave me a chance to be more creative so they didn't all taste the same, and really helped cravings. I do look forward to allowing myself to "cheat" occasionally, especially in social situations. So far I've let myself have a "carb up" day this past Friday. I had almond flour pancakes (with a tiny amount of maple syrup), bacon (which I had been avoiding because of the sugar), roasted white potatoes and some coconut milk ice cream. Of course I also ate salads, other vegetables and some meat that day too. Only the bacon seemed to give my stomach trouble. Maybe it was just too much of a sugar/salt/fat punch and I need to take it slower? For my current plan I would like to keep eating clean paleo but allow myself 3-4 small indiscretions a week, IE something sweet or starchy. I can't decide if it's better to keep them all in one day or spread them out. I'll just have to wait and work it out as I go.

February 1, 2012

To complete this week's Dark Days challenge I made lunch today using turnips, kale and onions from my 9 Bean Rows winter CSA share. I saw this recipe for Smoky Roasted Turnips on The Food Lover's Primal Palate but didn't feel like waiting for the oven to heat up. I then started thinking about bubble and squeak and so added kale. A fried egg from our ducks seemed like a good bump of protein. I had bacon fat on hand but thought the flavor of olive oil would be good with the pimenton and so I used oil from Higher Grounds. It was delicious and when Penny noticed me eating she ran over and stole a bunch even though there was enough hot pimenton to give a little burn. She's my little firecracker!

Smoked Paprika Turnips and Kale (with an egg)
Add peeled and cubed turnips to salted boiling water and cook just until tender. Drain immediately and allow the extra steam to evaporate off. Soften some sliced onion in olive oil in a cast iron pan. Add the turnips and sprinkle hot pimenton (smoked paprika) and cracked black pepper to taste. Cook over medium/high until the turnips and onions are caramelized. Add in chopped kale and toss to wilt. Push the vegetables over to one side and add a little more olive oil to the empty side. Crack in an egg and cook to your taste, I love crispy edges! Serve with the egg on top for runny yolk awesomeness.

January 31, 2012

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

Whoops, somehow I kept forgetting to make time to post this months Daring Baker challenge! This month we were given a biscuit recipe. Even though I didn't personally eat any of these (due to my Whole 30 pledge) and I couldn't make the provided recipe (because the rest of the house is dairy free and currently wheat free) I still felt like trying out some recipes on the kids and John to see if any would be a hit. Here are the results...

First, I made these Coconut Flour Bacon Biscuits from Primal Den Mother. John and the kids weren't impressed though that may be because they were slightly over baked or because of the coconut flour. I personally like coconut flour baked goods more than they do and from the smell I think I might like these.

Next I tried GF Buttermilk Biscuits from Food.com. I used Spectrum butter flavored shortening and So Delicious cultured coconut milk in place of the butter and buttermilk. They had a good smell but the texture was too gummy and no one was interested in them.

Finally I made the Almond Flour Biscuits from Elana's Pantry. These were the clear winner. John and Alex both liked them a lot and they had a good looking texture after baking. I can see myself having these occasionally after the Whole 30 is over, though I do find that her almond flour baked goods start all tasting too similar if I have them often.

January 23, 2012

If you are a fan of food media you couldn't have missed the adoration that has been heaped upon pork belly in the last few years. So when I made bacon this fall, with the half hog I purchased from Bare Knuckle Farms, I saved the trim pieces from my whole pork belly to cook on their own. I had planned on trying David Chang's Pork Belly but it and most of the other recipes for pork belly rely on sugar and often soy sauce for flavor and I am avoiding both for January. A little more searching brought me to this recipe for Braised Pork Belly. I loved the sound of the fennel and allspice rub and the fact that it didn't call for any sugar. I replaced the white wine with Black Star Farms verjus since I'm also avoiding all alcohol and adjusted the spices for the braising liquid somewhat. After the braising was done I knew some sweetness was needed so I dug out some locally grown boiled chestnuts. I sliced up the braised meat and broiled it just a little with the chestnuts. They were wonderful together- sweet, rich, and spicy! For something green to go with this meal I stir fried pac choi from my winter 9 Bean Rows' CSA share with local garlic, organic fresh ginger, Eden Foods toasted sesame oil and a few black sesame seeds. A great meal but I still feel like pork belly is best served as bacon. Nothing beats bacon!

January 22, 2012

We were invited to a Chinese New Year celebration yesterday and I was determined to bring fortune cookies that Alex could safely have. Friday night I fought with three different recipes: two that were gluten free by design and one wheat flour recipe with gluten free flour blend as replacement. All of them were flops and I was fairly discouraged and a bit angry about wasting some of the last of our eggs. Our chickens and ducks have mostly stopped laying now. :( But the next morning I screwed by courage to the sticking place and gave it one more try. This time I altered a recipe I already knew worked and success was mine! I was even happier with how my stir fried pork with mushrooms served with sesame cabbage came out. I will have to make that again since it was Whole 30 compliant and I'd like to post it. The pork and cabbage helped me survive the challenge of not eating even the smallest taste of fortune cookie. Thank goodness the kids make great taste testers!

Fortune Cookies (gluten and dairy free)
Adapted from this recipe which came from this recipe
Makes ~18 cookies

-Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
-Line a couple of baking pans with parchment paper. If your pans are rimmed I suggest flipping them over and working on the back side so that spreading the batter is easier. Set out a muffin tin to use while forming cookies and print and cut out your fortunes. I used a lot from this list of fortune cookie messages but my favorite is "Your fortune lies in another cookie".
-In a stand mixer, cream the coconut oil and sugar until light in color and smooth. Add the egg whites and extracts and beat until incorporated. This will be extra tricky if you don't have your egg whites at room temperature.
-Add the tapioca starch, corn starch and salt and beat until a smooth batter forms, you will probably need to scrape down the bowl a few times.
-Oil your parchment with spray oil or a little melted coconut oil. On one half of the parchment take a little less than a tablespoon of batter and spread it evenly with an offset spatula into an ~4 inch diameter circle. Repeat on the other side of the baking sheet. If you don't feel confident about this step you can trace a circle in pencil on the reverse side of your parchment paper to use as a guide or you can make a circle stencil out of thin cardboard (think cereal box) and then spread the batter just inside the template.
-Bake for 4-5 minutes until light golden brown on edges, bake only 2 cookies at a time.
-Immediately after removing from the oven take a fortune and place it on the center line. Then fold the cookie in half keeping the folded edge flat and not squashed. Then bend in the two corners and place the cookie inside a muffin tin cup to keep it from unfolding as it cools. This does some practice and hands that can take some heat. This image was helpful for me to learn the fold though if you Google other recipes you'll see a lot of people using coffee cups to help fold. The coffee cup technique wasn't helpful to me but you may be different.
-Repeat with the remaining batter. Be sure to cool off your cookie sheet and reoil your parchment after each batch. Do not add fresh batter to a warm cookie sheet.
-After the cookies have cooled store them in an airtight container.

I've passed the halfway mark for my January Whole 30 . Here are some notes on the experience so far:
-After the first couple of days I decided to give up dried fruit. The figs and dates were just too tempting and I felt like I was sure to overload on them. Fresh fruit has been easier to eat in moderation, though I did have a few days last week where I ate more apples than I'd like.
-I feel really great when I eat my greens. That extra rule is the one I've been most consistently following. Also I've discovered a few chopped, toasted hazelnuts will do wonders for a salad. Previously I neglected this nut, maybe it's time for hazelnut oil vinaigrettes?
-Week two was by far the easiest. I ate much more low carb that week and I even had a vegetarian day, with only eggs for protein. I felt really full of energy.
-Week three has been the hardest. I ate more apples than I would like and had more sugar cravings. Every time I walked by the above pictured snow-covered light I thought about whipped cream and ice cream. I'm also missing alcohol more than I thought I would, just a single glass of wine or even just wine for braising. I find that strange because I'm really not someone who drinks regularly.
-I miss good hard salami. Every brand I can find has at least some sugar. It's going to be the first thing I add back in to my diet.
-I've become more curious about how much the cravings and high energy feelings are related to my hormonal cycles. I guess I need to chart more to figure that out.

It's hard to put into words what raising your own animals for meat is like. There is a sense of pride but also a weighty feeling of duty. The excitement of fuzzy little ducklings and the annoying stink and mess as they take over your garage...the fun of seeing your kids chasing a big flock of ducks in your front yard and realizing this many animals eat a lot more food than the four birds you had before...the repeated discussions with your son and husband about how, "Yes, some of the birds are going to be for meat." And then finally butchering day comes. Could I really do it? Is it going to to be hard? Is it going to be scary?

With four ducks and a rooster under my belt I personally have those questions answered and found it to be a rewarding experience. I plan on getting more meat ducks again this year. Maybe a little later this year so I can butcher in the fall instead of late summer and definitely a designated meat breed (Pekin or Muscovy) instead of the multi-purpose Buff ducks we got last year. With our ducks I have made duck stock, duck confit, pan-seared duck breasts and just this weekend I roasted the one bird from the freezer that I left whole. All of it was more delicious than anything store bought and I hope I did them justice. Thank you to those ducks and all the animals that we use for food. Also a huge THANK YOU to Joan and her son from Olds Farm. They let me practice at their duck butchering and the experience was invaluable.

I used Roast Duck with Citrus Pan Sauce as a base recipe for my roast duck. I stuffed the cavity with a Rennie Orchards apple and spiced the steaming water with just 1 tablespoon toasted coriander seeds along with 1 inch piece of sliced fresh ginger and 1/2 teaspoon cassia buds. For the sauce I used the reserved steaming liquid and 1/2 cup verjus to deglaze the roasting pan then strained it to remove the spices. To the strained reduction I added a diced apple, 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger and a pinch of dry mustard. I cooked this until the apple was tender and served it on the side. It was subtly spicy and tart to go with the rich duck. *A note of caution, be very careful when you prick the skin the second time, after steaming. I was a little too enthusiastic and should have gone shallower with my pricks.

January 10, 2012

It wasn't easy to pick a meal this week to dedicate to the Dark Days Challenge. For some reason I kept changing my plans at the last minute and adding in an ingredient that made the meal not quite qualify. So in place of one fully local plate I give you my past two lunches, each with one glaringly not locally sourced ingredient but lots of local flavor.

First we have yesterday's Sunshine Chicken with roasted roots. I used a whole chicken from Hubbell Farm, which I broke down, the wings are pictured. I shared this recipe back when I first started blogging and my family and I still love it. Of course it calls for lemons and my lemon tree croaked right after I got one batch of fruit from it but they are in season and organic. The root vegetables I roasted this time were turnips, beets, parsnips and onion-- a very good combination. They came from 9 Bean Rows and vendors of The Saturday Farmers Market at the Village. I cooked the roots in Hubbell Farm's turkey shmaltz.

And today's lunch was lamb arm chops from Starlight Hill Farms served with a variation on this cherry tomato salad. I used kale, turnip greens and red onion from my 9 Bean Rows winter CSA share but couldn't resist the totally out of season cherry tomatoes John brought home. I dressed the salad with verjus from Black Star Farms, lots of dried spearmint from my garden (re-hydrated in the verjus), salt, pepper and Higher Grounds olive oil. You can see the distinctive oil label glowing in today's fantastic sunshine in the background of the photograph.

January 9, 2012

Adding to My Food Books of 2011 List are these two."What I Eat" is such a cool book and I almost forgot it! I had it from the library and everyone who came over and saw it couldn't put it down. Even Alex, who is over my shoulder and just saw the cover picture, says he loved it and can we get it again from the library. It has photographs of the daily diets of people from around the world organized by their calorie count along with short biographies. It's just fascinating!

January 8, 2012

In addition to following the Whole 30 rules for January I also pledged to eat at least one meal a week with organ meats. Why should you consider eating organ meats? A big reason for me is wanting to respect the animal that gave its life for you by wasting as little as possible but there are also plenty of health benefits. While I will eat beef liver occasionally and I liked the beef heart we got with our quarter steer, my favorite and one of the easiest organ meats to find and prepare are chicken livers.

When I was a kid my parents served chicken livers in their spaghetti sauce and I still love them that way, although now on top of sauteed zucchini. While in college and while dating John I was coming out of my vegetarian years and learned a new way to eat chicken livers. The Metro Detroit area is teaming with good Middle Eastern restaurants and a favorite of ours back in "the dating years" was the Pita Cafe in Oak Park, MI. At the corner of Greenfield and 696, we passed this restaurant on the way to and from our two homes too many times to count. Great hummus, good lentil soup (smooth or chunky), juices, and fantastic chicken livers made up our meals there.

They served their chicken livers fried with onions, jalapenos, and lots of olive oil with a side of rice pilaf topped with parsley and toasted almonds. Lemons were served on the side to squeeze on. You had to be careful to ask for the dish "mild" or they would blow your head off with the jalapenos! I've updated this to use my Sorta Gremolata from my freezer and keep the dish Whole 30 compatible. I'm also an even bigger wuss about spicy food now but feel free to overload yours with jalapenos!

Chicken Livers and Onions

Rinse and dry your chicken livers well. Lately I soak them in a brine for a few hours but I haven't decided if it makes a big enough difference in the taste. Slice a couple of sweet onions. Heat up a skillet and add fat of your choice. I used chicken fat but have used olive oil in the past. Fry the onions with salt and pepper until caramelized. Remove the fried onions from the pan and set aside. Add more fat if needed and fry the chicken livers until done. Don't forget to season them and don't overcook them! Toss the onions and livers together and top with defrosted "gremolata" balls. *If you don't have the "gremolata" you could substitute some chopped parsley with garlic, lemon zest and juice. Finish with some toasted chopped almonds and a squeeze of lemon juice. Wonderful served with a green salad dressed with lemon juice and olive oil.

January 4, 2012

This year I moved a bird feeding crook and zip tied it to the patio railing off the kitchen so I could watch the birds while I cook and wash dishes. Now that this guy is coming to the suet there I guess I need to move my tripod into the kitchen. It's so cool to see such a big bird up close!

January 3, 2012

More snow today. From the signs in the coop, I think the weather was bad enough that even the ducks slept inside and it has to be pretty bad out for them to bother going in. Weirdly one of our barred rocks is molting. Talk about bad timing, we're in the middle of a cold snap! She looks awful with all the new feathers sprouting out of her neck, blech.

Unintentionally, I managed to have all of my three meals today SOLE and completely Whole 30 compliant as well. For breakfast I had a kale and baby lettuce salad. For the dressing I made a creamy salad dressing with egg yolks from my chickens, organic flax seed and olive oils, a little organic lemon, mustard and Black Star Farms verjus. I need to get some anchovies for my creamy dressings, they would have put it all over the top! The kale and lettuce came from my 9 Bean Rows winter share that started last week. I'm SO looking forward to their vegetables!

For lunch, I had a hash made with roasted cubed pumpkin (leftover from this soup), onions, sage (dried from my garden) and some of my homemade chorizo sausage. I took a picture of the hash before I chopped up the sausage and added it to the pumpkin but I attest that it was delicious though less attractive served that way. Finally, dinner was beef and root vegetable soup. I used some thin cut short ribs from Gallagher's Centennial Farm with a slew of root vegetables from 9 Bean Rows and vendors of The Village's Saturday Market. The soup was very similar to the goat borscht I made before but with beef and without cabbage. I flavored it with dried rosemary and winter savory from my garden, a picture of the ingredients i used this time follows.

Dark Days Pumpkin Hash with Chorizo
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Cube pumpkin or winter squash into ~3/4" cubes and toss with a diced half an onion, olive oil, crumbled dried sage, salt and pepper. Roast for ~20 minutes stirring occasionally, until golden brown. While the pumpkin is roasting pan fry some chorizo sausage. *Now that I'm thinking about it, I could have just added the sausage into the oven and saved myself a pan to wash. When the pumpkin and sausage are fully cooked, slice the sausage and toss the two together. Enjoy!